The present invention relates to a thermal shield and, in particular, it concerns a soft removable thermal shield for a seeker head of a guided missile.
By way of introduction, some guided missiles have an internal seeker head which is disposed behind a window, which is located at the nose of the missile. Typically, the seeker head and often the window itself are sensitive to heat exposure, which is caused by friction of the missile body with air during supersonic or hypersonic flight. This heat exposure can result in breakage to the window and damage to the seeker head. Additionally, the seeker head is typically not used for the entire flight, but only during the terminal phase of the flight. Therefore, the window of the missile should be covered by a thermal protector during the first phases of the flight while the seeker head is not used.
One prior art thermal protector is a rigid thermal protector which covers the window during the first phases of the flight and which is retracted from the window during the terminal phase of the flight. A shortcoming of this thermal cover is its cost and mechanical complexity.
Another prior art thermal protector is a rigid thermal protector which covers the window during the first phases of the flight and which is released completely from the missile at the beginning of the terminal phase of the flight. This thermal cover is less costly and mechanically simpler than the first prior art thermal cover. A shortcoming of this thermal cover is that when this thermal cover is released it may hit the real part of the missile, thereby causing damage to the missile.
There is therefore a need for an inexpensive thermal shield for a missile seeker that does not damage the missile when released.